This past year, God has had me observing how Jesus handled various situations in life. How He handled grief has probably stood out to me more than anything else as I asked Him, “How should I respond to grief?”
The Death of John the Baptist
Before we get into what Jesus does when He learns of John’s death, let’s not forget that Jesus and John were cousins. He is the now-grown babe who lept in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary drew near with Jesus growing in her own womb. This is the man who baptized Jesus. They were closely related. I know my own children would be devastated to learn that their cousin had died. I can imagine Jesus, in His humanity, would grieve the loss of His beloved cousin.
The first thing Jesus does when the disciples run to Him and tell Him all they had done (including taking John’s corpse and laying it in the tomb) is to depart by boat to a deserted place. He tells His disciples, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile” (Mark 6:31).
Grief requires two things: a deserted place and rest. It is okay to want to be alone in the pain of your heartbreak so you can find rest in Him.
But that’s not all that happened that day. And it’s not the only way Jesus responded to His grief. The multitudes learned that He was heading to the deserted place, and they “ran there on foot … and arrived before [the disciples] and came together to Him” (Mark 6:33).
How does Jesus respond to the multitudes interrupting His plan to rest? He is “moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd” (Mark 6:34). This instantly reminds me of John 3:16-17. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” Jesus had compassion on the multitudes. He put their needs before His own. A Servant Shepherd.
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
God’s plan isn’t to leave us in our grief. It isn’t to leave us in the valley of the shadow of death. It is to comfort us. To bring us rest in green pastures. To lead us beside still waters. To restore our souls and lead us in paths of righteousness. His righteousness.
And so He receives the multitude, speaks to them (teaches them) about the kingdom of God, and heals the sick.
But the day isn’t over yet. Jesus has one more need to fulfill.
At this point, “the day was far spent,” and the disciples are concerned for the people, as they have nothing to eat. They want to send them away, but Jesus has a better plan. A heavenly plan. While the disciples are focused on an earthly need, Jesus is focused on a heavenly solution.
“And when He had taken the five loaves and two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all (Mark 6:41). Note what Jesus does in order to multiply the loaves and fish: He looks to heaven (seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness), then He blesses the loaves (give thanks) and breaks them (just as He will be broken on the cross, the Bread of Life). Finally, He gives the fragments to His disciples to give to the multitudes (just as He will give of Himself to save us all). We see a pattern here: look to heaven, bless, break, and give. Imagine how God could multiply the spiritual blessings in our lives if we were so willing to bless the multitudes from what He provides!
“So they all ate and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men” (Mark 6:42-43). In His grief, Jesus served, taught, and fed five thousand men. Would I be able to do the same? When all I want to do is go to a deserted place and rest?
Jesus put the needs of others before His own. Then, and only then, did He send the disciples ahead in the boat and send the multitudes away. From there, “He departed to the mountain to pray” (Mark 6:46). Jesus finally got the quiet time with His Father that He needed. So after having compassion on others, sharing the Bread of Life with them and offering the healing that only comes through knowing Jesus Christ, it’s important to spend time with the Father in prayer (conversation). Because He understands our grief on a whole other level.
Jesus’ Death
Remember how God gave His only begotten Son to save the world? We know from Matthew 27:45-46 that God looked away from His Son as Jesus gave His life for the multitude who believe in Him. “Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?'” Your Father in heaven knows the grief … the pain … the heartache … the sorrow … of death. He understands what it’s like to experience child loss. For three hours darkness hovered over all the land. For three hours, God looked away from His Son as He hung on the cross. Jesus knows the grief of an abandoned child. God knows the heartbreak of a parent’s greatest grief.
Thankfully, the story doesn’t end there. In Christ, we have the power of resurrection. We have the ability to raise from the grave of grief, out of sorrow and ash, and put on the garment of praise. To find joy in our salvation and an abundant, eternal life with our Father in heaven.
Because He so loved the world …
I pray “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” this Christmas season (Ephesians 3:16-19).
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